William III (Willem; 4 November
1650 – 8 March 1702),[2]
also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from
birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel in
the Dutch Republic from 1672 and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from
1689 until his death in 1702. It is a coincidence that his regnal number (III)
was the same for both Orange and England. As King of Scotland, he is known as
WilliamII.[3]
He is sometimes informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "KingBilly".[4]

William inherited the principality of Orange from his father, William II,
who died a week before William's birth. His mother, Mary, was the daughter of
King Charles I of England. In 1677, he married his fifteen-year-old first
cousin, Mary, the daughter of his maternal uncle James, Duke of York.

A Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful
Catholic king of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant and Catholic
powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith.
In 1685, his Catholic father-in-law, James, Duke of York, became king of
England, Ireland and Scotland. James's reign was unpopular with the Protestant
majority in Britain. William, supported by a group of influential British
political and religious leaders, invaded England in what became known as the
"Glorious Revolution". On 5 November 1688, he landed at the southern English
port of Brixham. James was deposed and William and Mary became joint
sovereigns in his place. They reigned together until her death on 28 December
1694, after which William ruled as sole monarch.

William's reputation as a staunch Protestant enabled him to take power in
Britain when many were fearful of a revival of Catholicism under James.
William's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is still commemorated by
loyalists in Northern Ireland and Scotland. His reign in Britain marked the
beginning of the transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more
Parliament-centred rule of the House of Hanover.

During the 1690s, rumours grew of William's alleged homosexual inclinations
and led to the publication of many satirical pamphlets by his Jacobite
detractors.[117]
He did have several close male associates, including two Dutch courtiers to
whom he granted English titles: Hans Willem Bentinck became Earl of Portland,
and Arnold Joost van Keppel was created Earl of Albemarle. These relationships
with male friends, and his apparent lack of mistresses, led William's enemies
to suggest that he might prefer homosexual relationships. William's modern
biographers disagree on the veracity of these allegations. Some believe there
may have been truth to the rumours,[118]
while others affirm that they were no more than figments of his enemies'
imaginations, and that there was nothing unusual in someone childless like
William adopting or evincing paternal affections for a younger man.[119]

Whatever the case, Bentinck's closeness to William did arouse jealousies in
the Royal Court. William's young protegé, Keppel, aroused more gossip and
suspicion, being 20 years William's junior, strikingly handsome, and having
risen from being a royal page to an earldom with some ease.[120]
Portland wrote to William in 1697 that "the kindness which your Majesty has
for a young man, and the way in which you seem to authorise his liberties ...
make the world say things I am ashamed to hear."[121]
This, he said, was "tarnishing a reputation which has never before been
subject to such accusations". William tersely dismissed these suggestions,
however, saying, "It seems to me very extraordinary that it should be
impossible to have esteem and regard for a young man without it being
criminal."[121]

In 1702, William died of pneumonia, a complication from a broken collarbone
following a fall from his horse, Sorrel. The horse had been confiscated from
Sir John Fenwick, one of the Jacobites who had conspired against William.[130]
Because his horse had stumbled into a mole's burrow, many Jacobites toasted
"the little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat".[131]
Years later, Winston Churchill, in his A History of the English-Speaking
Peoples, stated that the fall "opened the door to a troop of lurking
foes".[132]
William was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside his wife.[133]
His sister-in-law, Anne, became queen regnant of England, Scotland and
Ireland.

Westminster Abbey, London

William's death brought an end to the Dutch House of Orange, members of
which had served as stadtholder of Holland and the majority of the other
provinces of the Dutch Republic since the time of William the Silent (William
I). The five provinces of which William III was stadtholder—Holland, Zeeland,
Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel—all suspended the office after his death.
Thus, he was the last patrilineal descendant of William I to be named
stadtholder for the majority of the provinces. Under William III's will, John
William Friso stood to inherit the Principality of Orange as well as several
lordships in the Netherlands.[134]
He was William's closest agnatic relative, as well as son of William's aunt
Albertine Agnes. However, King Frederick I of Prussia also claimed the
Principality as the senior cognatic heir, his mother Louise Henriette being
Albertine Agnes's older sister.[135]
Under the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Frederick I's successor, Frederick William
I of Prussia, ceded his territorial claim to King Louis XIV of France, keeping
only a claim to the title. Friso's posthumous son, William IV, succeeded to
the title at his birth in 1711; in the Treaty of Partition (1732) he agreed to
share the title "Prince of Orange" with Frederick William.[136][137]

During William's
lifetime, two calendars were in use in Europe: the Old Style
Julian calendar in Britain and parts of Northern and Eastern Europe,
and the New Style
Gregorian calendar elsewhere, including William's birthplace in the
Netherlands. At the time of William's birth, Gregorian dates were ten days
ahead of Julian dates: thus William was born on 14 November 1650 by
Gregorian reckoning, but on 4 November 1650 by Julian. At William's death,
Gregorian dates were eleven days ahead of Julian dates. He died on 19
March 1702 by the Gregorian calendar, and on 8 March 1702 by the standard
Julian calendar. (However, the English New Year fell on 25 March, so by
English reckoning of the time, William died on 8 March 1701.) Unless
otherwise noted, dates in this article follow the Julian calendar with New
Year falling on 1 January.

Troost, 26–27. The
Prussian prince was chosen because he could act as a neutral party
mediating between the two women, but also because as a possible heir he
was interested in protecting the Orange family fortune, which Amalia
feared Mary would squander.